Calle Real in Japan - Isla de Salsa Festival

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fotos cortesía de Peter Cheyne y  Patricio Sobrado

In the first weeks of August 2011, Calle Real was invited to play in Japan on a tour named Vivela Salsa tour 2011 = http://www.vivela.jp/2011/info_en.html

Since I moved to Santiago, Chile in 2010, I had played with the band in Israel in April 2011, and now I looked forward to meet the boys again for a 10 days tour in Japan.

I had a vague idea of what Japan was! But mostly from movies and design, a modern high-tech society on top of a disciplined aged culture with a passion for rituals. It pretty much summed my impression of Japan before the tour.

Visiting Japan with Calle Real, it did not change my generalized view of Japan in its essence, but it made me view it from the inside and added soul and flesh to the picture already in place. But to be honest, Japan vastly exceeded my expectations!

I had the wrong impression that the disciplined part of the culture would not let the Japanese people enjoy themselves unless very rigid conditions were fulfilled. And I was astonished by the vivid and joyful spirit of the salseros and timberos from Japan when partying, listening or actively receiving our music into their hearts, or when showing us appreciation as the dedicated fans they were.

I got enchanted by the details of the rituals in normal Japanese life. When waiting for the elevator as an example.

Everybody entering an elevator respectfully agrees with their eyes communication and body language who is going to enter first, the children, followed by the women and the man last of course, and if you are already are in the elevator, the entering people do nicely great you. This is different from many other cultures where entering the elevator is almost a race. 

I got a hair cut at the hotel in Fukuoka, and that was ritual too. The lady who cut my hair put a warm towel on my head to soften the hair. But since the towel was taken from a boiling pot, she did all this ritual with the towel making it fly around in intricate waves to pull down the temperature and make it just perfect. It took some time to get it right but it was worth the show. Then when she went on cutting with the scissors, she never used a machine. All was done by hand. It felt like she had two Samuraj swords in her hands and the way she cut around. I was very pleased with the final result and the show. In Japan I sensed that the moment was important, and that in order to honor it you have to take the time to perform the ritual of whatever it is. 

I knew that things like logistics and tour schedule would probably work like a clock with very few surprises and so it was. The promoter of the tour did an impressive job and we owe them many big ups.

But I did not expect to see the dedication near to hysteria from the fans waiting for us. Having an after-concert-party in each city we played at was a nice and gentle way to get acquainted to you fans. We appreciated your effort to put that through and we took the time to meet you, have a chat and dance. The tour meant to us travelling many miles so the after-concert-parties were merely the one opportunity we had to socialize.

Due to this we were forced sometimes to eat fast food, and once again, WOW. What a taste! Was not aware that fast food could taste so well. Even the simplest noodle soop from a fast market, that you prepare pouring hot water into, was tasty and left me happy. Impressive!

Never seen so many well polished cars neither. I got the impression that if you took a tour with your ride and it wasn't polished or clean you would get a fine from the environmental police. Come on, even the trucks were mirror shiny! How's that possible?

The weather in August in south Japan is as hot as any Carribean country, so the huge humidity made the tree instruments feel like they were reborned. The piezzo microphone of my tres did not like it though, seems like that the water in the air makes it degrade, but that did not stop me from playing.

So wrapping it up, my impression today would be a high-tech country, with very polite people, great food, respect for rituals, and with a partying spirit like few have seen.

Thanks for your time -- Patricio Sobrado (tres & director of Calle Real)

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